(Gluten-Free) White Chocolate + Macadamia Almond Meal Cookies [and creating beauty when the world is dark]
It’s been a heavy couple months. Does anyone else feel like that? Then again, the weight of the news, struggles with friends, and the heaviness of our own souls seem all too common. Grief, at least on some level, is always close at hand.
“The Christian’s life is to be a thing of truth and also a thing of beauty in the midst of a lost and despairing world.”
So what’s the point of little things like this? What’s the point of baking cookies or writing on a food blog or sharing ordinary pieces of our lives on the Internet? I’ve wrestled with this often over the years, and I don’t think there’s a simple answer. Sometimes, for me, I do have to set my creative work aside to deal with deeper heartache in front of me. But other times mixing dough and taking photos, moving our hands and tasting what’s sweet...sometimes that’s exactly what we need when the world feels dark.
A few years ago as I wrestled with the purpose of my own work, I came across Francis Schaeffer’s book, Art and the Bible. He asks, “Is the creative part of our life committed to Christ? Christ is the Lord of our whole life and the Christian life should produce not only truth—flaming truth—but also beauty.”
In the midst of grief, heartache, and a dark and despairing world, we have to be people who speak truth—but we also have to proclaim beauty. It’s not about conforming to the world’s standards of beauty but about reflecting the beauty of our Creator God through what we create.
No, it’s not always the time to bake cookies. It’s not always the time to take photographs or play around in the kitchen. But sometimes it is. Sometimes you have to stop and literally taste once again that even in the darkness, God is still good.
Most recipes I’ve come across that use almond flour or almond meal include it as a substitute for a traditional flour. Sara Forte’s “Almond Meal Cookies with Coconut and Cacao Nibs” from The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods is one of the first that actually celebrates almond meal. Rather than being disguised as a traditional flour, these cookies embrace the texture and nuttiness of almond meal.
My recipe below uses hers as inspiration, changing up the flavors a bit with ingredients like macadamia nuts and white chocolate.
White Chocolate + Macadamia Almond Meal Cookies (Gluten Free!)
Yields about 12-14 cookies
Adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen
1¼ cups almond meal
½ cup chopped macadamia nuts
⅓ chopped dried cherries (optional)*
¼ cup chopped white chocolate
¼ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
3 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large bowl, mix together the almond meal, macadamia nuts, cherries (if using), white chocolate, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg until it’s uniform in color. Whisk in the coconut oil and vanilla extract.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix just until combined. Cover and put the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 20-30 minutes.
When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375. Form the dough into balls, slightly smaller than a golf ball. Set them on a baking sheet about two inches apart. Gently press down the tops to flatten them slightly.
Bake for about 10-13 minutes, or until the edges are slightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool. Serve and enjoy!
*I made one batch with the cherries and one batch without. I honestly couldn’t decide which I preferred. The cherries add quite a bit of sweetness to the cookie, so if you want to tone down the sweetness, leave them out. But if you’ve got a sweet tooth, go ahead and add ‘em!
